My dad is interested in getting a 42"-50" 16:9 HDTV, and I don't want him to just choose a TV from like Best Buy or Circuit City just because it looks the best. Is there anything I should look out for in a widescreen TV? Price range is probably gonna be around $1500 - $2500, so I'm not looking for a high-end TV, just one that has a DVI input (I might be hooking up a Media Center PC), pretty clear, and a wide viewing angle. If you guys have had any good recommendations of TVs within the price range (include brand name and model if possible), I would greatly appreciate it.
Just make sure u get WIDESCREEN! Cause it simply rules! And ummm... dont get plasma, cause it has one major flaw called "BURN-IN EFFECT" which simply means, if for example u watch CNN and the CNN logo is displayed on the screen without movement for more than one hour... it gets BURNED into the screen... meaning that when u turn it off, or watch something else, u will see a faint CNN logo! Anyways some companies like Sony/Panasonic/etc have tried to find away around that, but they only solution they came up with was to EXTEND that time from one hour and up! But still its a HUGE flaw! Now if u ask the sales people they either wont know what ur talking about, or they might deny it to make a sale... but the honest ones, do finally admit it once u threatin them! HEhehe And check to see what res it can display... eg. 720p, 480p, etc! The higher the better of course! But right now, LCD are the best HDTV's out their... and still i would hold off from buying a LCD tv, since their first generation LCD's... with slow reponse rates, etc! But LCD monitors are a good buy now...! But since w're talking about TV... anyways... i would seriously hold off Projection TV... or the new LCD Projection tv's.... since they have a REALLY REALLY limited viewing angle, meaning that u have to sit directly infront of it to see the picture on the screen! Just go for a WIDESCREEN CRT HDTV.... those provide very sharp images, wide viewing angles... and their only 2 flaws are.... 1) short life compared to plasma, projection, and LCD. 2)They have fat buttox's! These numbers are approx. different brands differ abit, now let me see if i can remember! CRT tv's screen life is something around 10'000hours Plasma 20'000hours LCD 40'000 to 50'000hours! What this means is that if u leave ur tv on, without turning it off non-stop... it will take 10'000hours for the CRT tv's screen to die... meaning the color will faint... the image on the screen will become noticably disturbing... and 10'000hours is a long time...one year is 8760hours... go do the math! Now check out the LCD's life! Later this year the 2nd generation LCD Tv's are said to be released... with amazing reposnse times and quality.... (keep in mind LCD tv's are different to that of LCD Monitor's) I hope this helped u out... if u need anything... let me know!
I dug up some reviews off the internet, and after looking around CNET.com, they recommended Hitachi's UltraVision 57" Widescreen HDTV Monitor (Brand/Model: HIT 57S500), which seems to fit Saeid's description of a widescreen CRT HDTV. For $2150, seems like a pretty good deal, but my dad is just sold on Sony HDTVs (which I think is overpriced, $2200 for 51") and Mitsubishi's HDTVs (which I highly doubt would have good picture quality, even though my dad says that they were the clearest outta the store). Anyone has any experience with Hitachi TVs?
i used to have a hitachi ultravision 50 inch tv before it was high definition and even back then it had 1000 lines of resolution which was higher than most midline brands hitachi ultravision is a beautiful crisp picture. i never had one single issue with mine. wish i still had it. i cry everytime i go into ultimate electronics :'( . 1500-2500 isnt much money to play with for an hdtv. just make damn sure its HDTV and NOT HDTV READY. if you can find an hdtv for that price and its hitachi,, go for it man. but just go to a few stores ask the guys to throw in a movie. on an INDEPENDANT TV. NOT one that the video signal has been split and reproduced 50 times. otherwise you wont see how good the picture truly is. i havent shopped for hdtv's but if hitachi has stuck with their same level of excellence,, you cant go wrong. get the extended warrenty too you will be glad you did.
HDTV and HDTV-Ready have the same pic quality. I got a friend that used to work in the Sony outlet and every HDTV Ready TV was hooked up to Regular Cable line and the HDTVs were hooked up to the HDTV lines so they looked better.
